| WELCOME TO THE HALLOWEEN ISSUE OF THE NEWSLETTER! / 27 OCTOBER 2010
Welcome to the new issue of the "Bump in the Night " newsletter -- a big welcome back to all of you long-time subscribers out there and welcome also to those of you who just discovered us during this past Halloween season. We have a mix of news and Halloween-related stuff for this issue, so I hope you enjoy it! This season has been a fast and hectic one for us here at American Hauntings, made especially enjoyable by our new arrival. So, thanks to all of you who wrote after the last issue with congratulations on the new baby. She has certainly made things interesting this year. But let's get on to the newsletter... | | 
FREE HALLOWEEN HORROR FILMS THIS WEEKEND!
Join host Troy Taylor this weekend at the haunted Avon Theater in Decatur, Illinois for two nights of FREE horror films, starting at 10:30 PM on Friday and Saturday nights. Doors open at 10:00 Pm and you can lined up to buy the best popcorn in North America and then get ushered into the haunted confines of the Avon for FREE showings of Return of the Living Dead (Friday) and the new Halloween classic Trick R Treat (Saturday). Hope to see you there!  | JACK-O-LANTERNS!
Halloween wouldn't be complete without a carved pumpkin's sinister grin -- but how this ritual get started? The tradition of Halloween was brought to America by the Irish immigrants who began arriving on these shores after the great Potato Famine of the middle 1800s, introducing the Celtic festival of Samhain and forever establishing the end harvest as the night when the dead walk the earth. | It's no surprise then to find that the origin of the jack-o-lantern comes from an Irish folk take about a miserly blacksmith known as Stingy Jack. Although the story has many variations, the most commonly told version has Jack stumbling home from the pub one Halloween night when he ran into the Devil himself. He agreed to make a bargain for his soul in exchange for one last drink before he went to Hell. Being a bit of a tightwad, Jack asked the Devil to pick up the tab. The Devil agreed and transformed himself into a sixpence coin, which Jack was supposed to use to pay the bartender. Drunk or not, Jack was a smart one and he quickly put the coin in his pocket, which also contained his rosary. The Devil, unable to change back into his true form next to the religious article, then made a deal with Jack that if he let him out of his pocket, he would not return for Jack's soul for ten years. When the Devil returned a decade later, Jack agreed to go with him without a fight if only he were allowed to pick and apple from a nearby tree and eat it along the way. The Devil agreed, but then was tricked again by the clever blacksmith. Using his penknife, Jack trapped the Devil by carving a crucifix into the trunk of the apple tree. Infuriated at being tricked again, the Devil agreed to let Jack alone if only he would set him free. Jack complied and the Devil returned to Hell alone. Years later, Jack died but he was not let into heaven because of his wicked ways -- and he couldn't get into Hell because the Devil refused to have him. Instead, he was damned to wander in the darkness between two worlds. To light his way, the Devil gave him a glowing ember from Hell and Jack placed it inside of an old gourd, which he used as a lantern. Since then, Jack has roamed the darkness with his lantern eerily lighting his path. The fear of meeting this lost soul spawned the Irish Halloween custom of dressing in costumes to frighten away spirits. Townsfolk would also leave offerings of food outside their front doors and carve faces into potatoes and gourds, placing their in their windows to frighten away Jack or any other ghosts who came to visit. By the early 1700s, the term "jack-o-lantern", or "Jack of the Lantern" in its original form, was used in Ireland as a nickname for night watchman who patrolled villages at night with lanterns, scaring away prowlers and animals. It wasn't until 1837 that the phrase "jack-o-lantern" first appeared in American novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne's book Twice-Told Tales, as a name for a carved, lighted pumpkin. By the 1840s, as hundreds of thousands of poor Irish farmers were forced to flee the famine for America, they brought their Halloween customs with them, including the jack-o-lantern. Jack-o-lanterns slowly became an American tradition but it was not until the 1966 Peanuts animated special, It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, that they became a full-fledged symbol of the season. The show became an instant classic and the jack-o-lantern has been an essential part of Halloween ever since.
*********************************************************************** | | 2011 HAUNTED AMERICA MIDWEST CONFERENCE!
The website is now up and running for the Midwest conference, which is coming June 10-11, 2011 at haunted Illinois College in Jacksonville, Illinois! We have a full list of speakers and events now online, as well as the crazy number of after-hours events that we are offering this year. You're not going to believe it! This is our biggest and best Midwest conference yet and you're not going to want to miss it! Click Here to see the Website for the Midwest Conference! 
2011 HAUNTED AMERICA WEST COAST CONFERENCE!
The San Diego conference is starting to fill up! It's still a few months away but if you want to take part in any of the after-hours events for the conference, you need to get signed up now! Join Host and Author Troy Taylor and Co-Host Lauren Kasak of Lumia Paranormal Research Services as America's Original Ghost Conference journeys to San Diego, California for its first West Coast Conference! Join us for a spirited weekend of ghosts, hauntings and the unexplained and experience the history and hauntings of San Diego with our conference, haunted tours, ghost hunts and more! It's going to be the first big ghost weekend of 2011! The West Coast Conference will be held the weekend of February 18-19, 2011 at the Scottish Rite Event Center in San Diego. Join us for our first Ghost Conference on the West Coast and discover nationally-known speakers on ghosts, hauntings and the supernatural. The event will include lectures and presentations on hauntings, haunted tours, ghost hunts, after-hours events In Old Town San Diego and much more! Click Here to Register for the West Coast event!*********************************************************************** WHITECHAPEL PRESS NEWS Halloween may be almost over, but the hauntings continue all year around at Whitechapel Press! we have some great new titles to preview for the coming months -- and a brand new website! Founded in 1993, Whitechapel Press is our own independent publishing company, offering books on ghosts, hauntings, history and crime since the very beginning. It took us until 2010, but we finally have our own website! Operated for many years as simply a small part of the Ghosts of the Prairie / American Hauntings website, we have now expanded and are offering more titles -- and more authors -- than ever before. You can see the website, along with all of our books (and Troy Taylor's books from other publishers), by following this link to Whitechapel Press. Where did we get our name?
One of our most-often asked questions is an easy one for crime and history buffs... When we started out, we offered publications on Spiritualism and Victorian-era history. "Whitechapel" is the section of London where Jack the Ripper committed his murders, hence the name! |  | What's Coming Next from Whitechapel Press?
We have had a number of new releases this past year (see the website) and have many more planned for the months ahead. There will be others, but here's a sneak preview of a few:
* Suicide & Spirits: The True Story of the Rise & Fall of the Lemp Empire
Finally, for all of those who have waited for the true story of the Lemp family of St. Louis, Troy Taylor is tackling the myths and misconceptions that have surrounded the family -- and the mysterious Lemp Mansion -- for decades. With cooperation from the last members of the Lemp family, he'll be delving into Lemp history and hauntings in a way that has never been done before!
(Early 2011)
* A Pale Horse was Death: Horrors of More American Disasters
We have received more requests for a sequel to And Hell Followed With It, a 2010 release from Troy Taylor and Rene Kruse than for any other book in our history. So, it's coming! Troy and Rene return to the record of American disaster and death for even more horrific stories of devastation and even more tales of earth, air, fire, water -- and blood! (2011) Troy is also working on more entries in the "Dead Men Do Tell Tales" Series, including: * The Bloody Mississippi: Horror & Hauntings Along America's Greatest River
* America's Last Outlaws: History & Hauntings of Dust Bowl Era Desperadoes
* Bigfoot in Kentucky
Author BM Nunnelly returns with a follow-up to his book Mysterious Kentucky for all of our readers fascinated by unsolved mysteries and cryptozoology. (Early 2011) *********************************************************************** 2011 has a been a record-breaking year for us in regards to just how many new overnights, ghost hunts and events that we have added to the schedule -- and how many of you took advantage of these great events! It looks like 2011 is going to be even more exciting and we already have a number of events listed on the schedule. Take a look at and see what we have in store for you for next year... so far!! January 8: Night at the Original Springs Hotel Okawville, Illinois -- We return to this mysterious and haunted hotel for another all-night ghost hunt that includes one night's hotel stay, dinner for two, tour and ghost hunt! January 29: Night at the Lincoln Theater Decatur, Illinois -- Return with us to one of the most haunted places in America for a "dead of winter" all-night ghost hunt! St. Louis, Missouri -- Another all-night ghost hunt at one of America's most haunted houses! Hear the TRUE stories of the Lemp mansion, NOT what you've seen on TV! February 12: Night at the Old Funeral Home
Jacksonville, Illinois -- Join us at this former funeral home, now home to the Jacksonville Theatre Guild -- and to a number of restless ghosts! March 11-12: Haunted Weekend in New Orleans Escape from cold weather and journey with us to New Orleans for an amazing weekend of ghost hunts, tours and America's most haunted city! Eldred, Illinois -- Join us for our first ghost hunting event of the year at one of our most popular Illinois locations! April 29-30: Haunted Weekend in Gettysburg Come back for another of our guest's favorite trips as we explore of the country's most haunted locations -- during the day and night -- the Gettysburg battlefield. August 5-6: Bell Witch Weekend Adams, Tennessee -- A favorite weekend of the summer is back! Join us in the heart of Bell Witch country for a history and hauntings weekend, optional canoe trip, tours, after dark exploration of the Bell Witch Cave and more! And that's just a sample of the events that we have to come! We'll be adding many others in the weeks and months to come, but don't miss out on those you really want to attend by waiting too long to get signed up! ************************************************************************  OCTOBER 2010 October 29-30: FREE Horror movies at the Avon Theater in Decatur, Illinois -- hosted by Troy Taylor! Film start at 10:30 PM both nights. FREE Admission! October 30: Night at the Eldred House: Eldred, Illinois -- Join us for a special Halloween Eve event at the notoriously haunted Eldred house and grounds! SOLD OUT! NOVEMBER 2010
November 6: Night at Rolling Hills Asylum: E. Bethany, New York -- Join us for a private, overnight ghost hunt at this former insane asylum, home to scores of resident spirits! SOLD OUT!
November 6: Night at the Old Courthouse & Jail: Carlinville, Illinois -- Visit the infamous Macoupin County Courthouse and old jail on a hunt for the lingering ghosts from the past! SOLD OUT! November 12: Night at the Ax Murder House: Villisca, Iowa -- Join us for a night at one of America's most haunted houses! SOLD OUT! November 13: Murder & Mayhem in Chicago at the Lisle History Museum! Join author Troy Taylor for some of the Windy City's bloodiest tales. Located at 921 School Street in Lisle, Illinois. Program begins at 4:00 p.m. November 13: Night at the Haunted Mansion: Carrollton, Illinois -- Return with us to the haunted Lee-Baker-Hodges house on the city's historic square! Reservations! November 19: Book Signing with Troy Taylor at the Frugal Muse Bookstore; 7511 Lemont Road; Darien, Illinois (southeast corner of 75th and Lemont) Meet the author and get signed copies of ghost and crime books! DECEMBER 2010 December 3: Resurrection Mary Tour: Chicago, Illinois -- Troy Taylor hosts his annual winter Resurrection Mary Tour, exploring the TRUE tales of Chicago's most famous ghosts and the many hauntings along Archer Avenue on the city's southwest side. Limited Spots! Reservations! December 26-31: Going to be in Chicago this Holiday season? Make your trip complete with one of the specialty tours that we are offering as a week-long "holiday of horrors"! Featuring annual favorites that we only do during the holiday season, from crime to ghosts, serial killers, zombies and our "Chicago Disaster Tour", held on December 30, anniversary of the Iroquois Theater disaster! Check out Weird Chicago for details! This electronic message is intended for newsletter subscribers. Please note that any form of distribution, copying or use of this communication, or the information it contains, is strictly prohibited without the express permission of the sender. Any use of this communication without permission is unlawful and a violation of federal copyright standards. If you have received this communication in error, please return it to the sender. © Copyright 2010 by Troy Taylor. All Rights Reserved. | | | |
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